I have contemplated time travel ever since I was fascinated by H.G. Wells' novel The Time Machine as a youth. Both the novel and George Pal's 1960 version of the motion picture were very good. It won "Best Cinematography" that year in the Academy Awards.
Some paradoxical problems:
1.) If the time traveler speeds to the future to assist the Eloi in overcoming the Morlocks, then that IS the future. So then why did he not run into himself doing that?
2.) And if he travels to the future and runs into himself assisting the Eloi then his running into himself is also a future event. Then why would he not run into himself running into himself?
There is an infinite regress involved in "visiting" the future.
3.) While he is traveling backwards in time his watch inside the machine is still indicating the advancing of time forward. There is a problem of time within the time machine. It takes so many "minutes" of time (running forward) for him to return back to the past!
There is an infinite nesting of one time continuum within another time continuum.
I think man-made time travel must be impossible in any mechanical sense.
Another little problem:
4.) If the time traveler demonstrates a model time machine to his friends, and they witness it vanish out of thier sight as it speeds off into another time, why would it vanish?
I mean since they are traveling at a "normal" speed through time at every furture point through which the machine traveled they should have caught up to that point and still seen the time machine demo model still on the table.
Comments, before I add anymore?
Originally posted by ZahlanziIf you were going to go forward in time, then this moment in time would have to be the past. In fact, all of time would have had to begun and ended to make this possible, without even considering how...
do you think it is possible? how? how do we handle time paradoxes(killing your grandfather)?
Originally posted by jaywillPoints 1 and 2, I will have to look into the novel to have a comment, but will have a go with the other points.
I have contemplated time travel ever since I was fascinated by H.G. Wells' novel The Time Machine as a youth. Both the novel and George Pal's 1960 version of the motion picture were very good. It won "Best Cinematography" that year in the Academy Awards.
Some paradoxical problems:
1.) If the time traveler speeds to the future to assist the Eloi in n the time machine demo model still on the table.
Comments, before I add anymore?
3.) While he is traveling backwards in time his watch inside the machine is still indicating the advancing of time forward. There is a problem of time within the time machine. It takes so many "minutes" of time (running forward) for him to return back to the past!
If a space craft travels close to the speed of light relative to Earth, the observer on the space craft would have normal time within the craft. If it was possible to observe Earth, he would see that time speeds up. From the Earth's reference frame they would observe that time on the space craft would slow down. This effectively would be fast* forward time travel. This is time dilation and has actually been proven.
If backward time travel were possible, then observations within the time machine relative to outside could work the same way. He can age 5 mins, but jump back in time outside by a number of years. Although with parallel universes, I cannot see it working this way for backward time travel (see below).
4.) If the time traveler demonstrates a model time machine to his friends, and they witness it vanish out of thier sight as it speeds off into another time, why would it vanish?
The parallel universes theory would explain this. The time machine will actually jump parallel universes with backward time travel (completely leaving this universe) so will actually disappear from this one. This means that any jump will cause a branch off without any possibility of returning to the original one. Any successive jump will only succeed in branching off universes ad infinitum.
*We are already travelling forward in time, just at a "normal" rate. It is possible to change this rate though.
EDIT: This actually reminds me of a serious flaw with the movie "Time Cop". They said near the beginning that forward time travel was impossible because it hasn't happened yet. It would actually be easier to travel forward in time because of the points stated above (time dilation). You don't even have to travel at relatively high speeds, you travel in time every night when you go to sleep. As far as you are concerned, the night has gone pretty quickly. 🙂
Time Cop seems to argue that if you were to jump back, say 5 years, these now future 5 years now suddenly become an existing entity allowing you to jump back to your original time again. This does not seem plausible to me.
Originally posted by Hank ReardenWatched Back to the future too many times
YOu guys are all a bunch of Pricks! ha ha ha.
I think Im travle backwards Perhaps might be true? But I really don't think that it is likely. Do you really think that if people could go back in time we would have heard of it by now? Do you not think that people from the future would come back and either try to help us out and give us technology or ...[text shortened]... a slightly different paralell existance.
And that's Hank Reardens Theory on time travel
Originally posted by Hank ReardenYou refuted what you said in the 2nd paragraph by what you said in the 3rd paragraph. The 3rd paragraph explains parallel universes. This will explain away the problems of people from the future coming back and we finding any "evidence". A parallel universe for the time traveller would have split off and we will still be in this one, hence wouldn't even see this time traveller. The same applies for going back in time and killing Hitler. There would be another parallel universe somewhere where he is dead.
YOu guys are all a bunch of Pricks! ha ha ha.
I think Im travle backwards Perhaps might be true? But I really don't think that it is likely. Do you really think that if people could go back in time we would have heard of it by now? Do you not think that people from the future would come back and either try to help us out and give us technology or ...[text shortened]... a slightly different paralell existance.
And that's Hank Reardens Theory on time travel
Originally posted by lauseyInteresting response. I know about time dialation.
Points 1 and 2, I will have to look into the novel to have a comment, but will have a go with the other points.
[b] 3.) While he is traveling backwards in time his watch inside the machine is still indicating the advancing of time forward. There is a problem of time within the time machine. It takes so many "minutes" of time (running forward) for him to re ...[text shortened]... owing you to jump back to your original time again. This does not seem plausible to me.
Originally posted by jaywillhe cannot run into himself into the future. from his time(the 19th century i think) he jumps to the future. so the timeline between the place of departure and the place of arrival doesn't have him in it. so he reaches a place where he bagins a new timeline. the problem is not going into the future, the problem is going into the past(but still this problem can be fixed with paralel universes).
I have contemplated time travel ever since I was fascinated by H.G. Wells' novel The Time Machine as a youth. Both the novel and George Pal's 1960 version of the motion picture were very good. It won "Best Cinematography" that year in the Academy Awards.
Some paradoxical problems:
1.) If the time traveler speeds to the future to assist the Eloi in ...[text shortened]... n the time machine demo model still on the table.
Comments, before I add anymore?
Originally posted by StarValleyWyIsn't Fry on 'Futurama' his own grandpa? 🙂
The energy to go visit gramps,
Is a quadrillions fold greater in amps,
Than getting to Mars, indeed to the stars,
So why waste it in going all backwards?
If energy you have to sqander,
In trying all-time to wander,
Then go to the future, indeed to the next,
To create it in ways,
Devoid of our craze,
And sure to avoid our malaise.
I saw a movie one time were a guy was going to try out a time machine and almost forgot to add the crystals.
I know nothing about time travel, but I do have a question about the alternate universe thing. I suppose I can see that the time traveler gets to this universe in his machine somehow, but how does the rest of that universe get there?
Originally posted by MerkThe universe isn't actually travelling. Will try to illustrate it by an example (although it is just a theory*, of course. 😉 ).
I saw a movie one time were a guy was going to try out a time machine and almost forgot to add the crystals.
I know nothing about time travel, but I do have a question about the alternate universe thing. I suppose I can see that the time traveler gets to this universe in his machine somehow, but how does the rest of that universe get there?
The theory goes like this. Every decision in history has determined how we see things today. A a slight difference in history could potentially cause dramatic differences in the future. For example, Hitler as a kid might have made a decision to go for a walk and end up getting murdered by a raving lunatic one night. This will obviously have dramatically caused a different history to how we know it now. It will also effectively be a parallel universe where people will be unaware of Hitler, there will be no holocaust (although some people seem to think there wasn't anyway. 😉 ), and no Nazis or Neo-Nazis today. Infact, for all we know, things might have been worse today as we have learnt a lot from this unfortunate history.
This means that every single decision would cause different histories (an infinite number of them, in fact). So, in theory, it might be possible to jump between these alternative realities. E.g. jump to a universe where Hitler died an early age, or where Communist Russia still exists etc.
Although as things stand, the history has been set as far as we can see now, so if someone was to jump back in time, they will change events which effectively branches off another parallel universe. Our universe will just see this person in the time machine disappear and will have no effect on our universe. The time traveller will have entered a whole new universe which he has just entered, and effectively changed by entering.
If the traveller was to go back in time to kill his parents before he was born (in that universe), our universe will still exist with his parents still being alive. He would have branched off another universe where he would have mysteriously appeared and killed a couple. To this universe, they aren't his parents, he would just be existing in limbo. He still did have an origin, just from parents of a different universe.
*Using the word theory loosely as the common everyday usage. In the scientific community, a theory is something that has been proven. In this case it is actually a conjecture.
Originally posted by shavixmirWhat if you accelerate backwards really fast. You could then go back into time.🙄
Time paradoxes won't exist. The mere fact that you were born already indicates you didn't manage to kill your grandfather.
Anyways, you can't go back in time, only forward.
It's all to do with acceleration, but I'm too tired to be bothered explaining it.
Originally posted by ZahlanziI do not understand your explanation. Perhaps something I wrote was not clear.
he cannot run into himself into the future. from his time(the 19th century i think) he jumps to the future. so the timeline between the place of departure and the place of arrival doesn't have him in it. so he reaches a place where he bagins a new timeline. the problem is not going into the future, the problem is going into the past(but still this problem can be fixed with paralel universes).
In The Time Machine the traveler takes off and arrives at the distant future of some six digit date. He comes back to the 19th century to tell his story to his friends. Then at end of the book he takes off again into the future.
Now, if he returns to that six figure date again he will be there as two versions of himself. That is what I mean by "run into himself."
I am not taking the parellel universe thing into account at all. One universe is enough for me to contemplate these mysteries. I'll leave multiple universe theory to others.
But do you see what I mean? In the movie (which had a little romantic addition which the novel did not have), the time traveler goes back again to his Weena girlfriend and her people the Eloi. Now depending on when he arrives again in the future he should get off the machine and observe himself there aready. There will be multiple versions of HIMSELF.
Now if you explained this away, please try it again. I didn't catch your explanation.
Coming back to the parallel universes conjecture. I have put a little more thought into it. We also have to take into account if there is such thing as free will as well.
If there is no such thing as free will (all our thoughts, decisions, mistakes etc. are pre-destined) then there would not be any parallel universe branch offs (if no one was to go back in time). The only time you will get a branch off is when there is a backward time jump. This is the only time you would have caused an event in history to change. Therefore, the number of parallel universes will equal the number of backward time travel jumps there has been.
This brings in another philisophical thought. Why would more than one universe ever be able to exist?
I will have to look into the Chronology Protection Conjecture a little more. 😉